Chris Beard says he received well-wishes from former Texas coach

Chris Beard knows Texas well from his days as a student. But many years later, he’s still getting acclimated to being the Longhorns’ head coach.

Beard in 1995 graduated from the University of Texas, where he served as the student-manager of the Longhorns for four years under head coach Tom Penders. From there, Beard went on to coach at numerous schools, serving as both an assistant and a head coach. Most recently, Beard went 30-5 in his one season with Arkansas-Little Rock, winning both the Sun Belt regular-season title and the conference tournament, clinching an NCAA title berth. From there, Beard moved onto Texas Tech, his last stop, where he amassed a 112-55 record, made three NCAA Tournament appearances — including one run to the Final Four — and was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in two consecutive seasons.

Now at Texas, Beard revealed a surprising act from former head coach Shaka Smart, who went 109-86 in six years at Texas but failed to live up to high expectations in the NCAA Tournament, costing him his job. In a classy move, Beard said that Smart, now the head coach at Marquette, gave him a ring and wished him well with the Longhorns.

Beard in his Oct. 20 press conference revealed why he was a tad late to his Zoom press conference; he said that he was on the phone with Smart, who not only extended well-wishes but “said he’d help in any way possible, per Brian Davis.

“Chris hung up, amazed, literally stepped to podium as Texas’ new coach,” Davis said on Twitter.

Beard, Texas beat Division-III school in preseason exhibition

Beard on Monday night coached Texas against a real opponent for the first time since taking the head coaching role, and the Longhorns left their mark on Division-III Texas-Lutheran, winning 96-33 in the exhibition game.

Tre Mitchell led all scorers with 16 points off the bench, while Timmy Allen added 15, Courtney Ramey scored 12 and Jaylon Tyson offered 13.

Former Texas Longhorns player Mike Wacker, who graduated in 1985 and was selected in the seventh-round of the 1985 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, is the current head coach at Texas-Lutheran; Beard before the game said that the exhibition schedule with a former Longhorn was part of his “unite the family” campaign for the program.

Consequentially, Wacker was effusive in his praise of Beard for giving his program a spotlight on the Longhorn Network, allowing his Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference squad the chance to compete in the Erwin Center, and giving his Bulldog team a tough tune-up ahead of much lesser competition.

But Wacker was most touched by the efforts Beard showed in welcoming him back to the Forty Acres. Longhorn players wore warm-up shirts with Wacker’s name above his No. 44. Beard gave the TLU head coach plenty of personalized gear. Wacker even sang “The Eyes of Texas” following the game, T-Ring affixed to his right ring finger.

“The fact that we’re all united, all of us, everyone that ever played, or managed, or was a student trainer, athletic trainer, whatever. If you lettered at the University of Texas, you’re part of his family,” Wacker said. “I think that speaks volumes (about) him.

“He didn’t have to do that. He’s getting paid to coach those guys in the locker room. There’s no reason he has to come back and do something like that for me. He did it because he cares about the people in the past.”

On3 fansite Inside Texas has more from the preseason scrimmage.